Capital spending

For the Notley government, infrastructure spending has been a distinctive marker of its fiscal choices. Support from a report last year by former Bank of Canada Governor David Dodge along with the Trudeau government’s big infrastructure program has continued a ten year spell of high public spending on capital commenced by their Tory predecessors.

With federal Infrastructure Minister Amarjet Sohi and his provincial counterpart Infrastructure and Transportation Minister Brian Mason announcing new spending almost weekly, construction industry leaders,trades, and various construction specialists remain employed. This week an unusual announcement was made by the M.P. from Edmonton Centre, Randy Boissonnault of federal funding a school museum with $600,000 from the federal government’s Canada Cultural Spaces Program. This will allow work to proceed on repairing the roof of the McKay Avenue school. Other funds come from the City of Edmonton, the provincial government and Edmonton Public School Board. This spending is unusual in the sense that it is for a local school board which is a long way removed from federal jurisdiction. This contribution was an example of partnership which Mr. Sohi spoke of in a presentation to about 60 people at the Economics Society of Northern Alberta on 11 October.

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About albertarecessionwatch

Former Director, Institute for Public Economics, University of Alberta and currently Fellow of the Institute. Former executive with Alberta Treasury Branches. Worked for the Alberta government for 12 years with Federal and Intergovernmental Affairs and Alberta Treasury. Areas of focus: financial institutions legislation and policy, government borrowing, and relations with credit rating agencies. Ph.D in Political Science (Uof A), Masters of Public Administration and BComm. (Carleton University). Author of Politics and Public Debt: The Dominion, the Banks and Alberta's Social Credit. Presently working on study of Alberta provincial agency board appointments.